There is a lot of talk these days about how Mitt Romney is a so-called “Massachusetts moderate” and how other candidates are trying to be the “conservative alternative” to Gov. Romney. Some even compare Mitt Romney to John McCain’s candidacy of 2008.

One very conservative and influential magazine called ‘The Weekly Standard,’ whose editor (Bill Krystol) is a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday, looked into the issue. The conclusion that they found is that Romney is “no moderate,” in fact:

“Romney is at least as conservative as his GOP rivals on jettisoning Obamacare and more conservative than some on entitlements, national security, and immigration. He’s no match for Gingrich on taxes, but that’s about it. Overall, he’s to the right of Gingrich.”

The article goes on to say that in regard to the top four most pressing issues of the day (namely Immigration, Tax Reform, Health Care, and Military Defense spending), Romney is “anything but moderate.”

“On four of the biggest issues in 2012, Romney is anything but moderate—or timid. He gets no special credit for advocating repeal of Obamacare. That’s Republican dogma. But he’s been the most specific among the GOP presidential candidates in backing the Ryan budget in all its parts, including its remake of Medicare. It was House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s plan that Gingrich zinged as “right wing social engineering” before reversing himself under duress.

When Romney announced in November his own proposal for cutting spending and reforming Medicare and Social Security, Paul Ryan was thrilled. “Look at what he put out!” he told Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post. “This is a great development.” Ryan said Romney’s package of spending cuts “tracks perfectly with the House budget,” which Ryan had drafted.”

Further Evidence

Further evidence of Romney’s conservative credentials is the fact that Romney made history in New Hampshire’s vote last week. Not only was he the first non-incumbent Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire, but in New Hamphire Romney got more votes from self-identified Republican voters than any other Republican candidate in history. Here is a brief summary on how New Hampshire Republicans voted:

“Mitt picked up 49% of GOP voters. Romney’s 49 percent is the highest mark among self-identified Republicans for any presidential candidate since New Hampshire moved its primary forward in the calendar.

Contrast that with John McCain, with whom he’s often compared as a squishy moderate with problems with Republicans.

McCain is the only candidate since 1980 to win New Hampshire even as he lost among self-identified Republicans.

That means McCain was essentially the worst winner with Republicans in New Hampshire over the past 30 years, while Romney was the best.”

As the Weekly Standard and polls from New Hampshire show, Romney is no moderate. He is a solid conservative. Strikingly, Romney is getting equal support from both conservatives and moderates among the voters and also from among congressmen and Governors who have endorsed Romney. Part of Romney’s strength is that he is a conservative that also appeals strongly to independents. That sounds like the kind of candidate we need running for the White House.

Yes, it was fantastic. No two ways about it. I came to New Hampshire in 2012 because I’d gone to Iowa in 2008. I came away from Iowa happy but with a Mitt-shaped hole in my heart. We came in second. Silver medal. Yes it was good, but disappointing. So I knew this cycle I’d need to make another trip, and hopefully one where he had a good chance of winning. I’d have loved to have been in Iowa, but something told me New Hampshire was the place for me.

I loved New Hampshire. I’d never spent any time in New England, and even though it’s winter, the trees were beautiful. I can see why people rave about it. It was, frankly, lovely. Knowing Mitt had a good lead when I planned my trip didn’t hurt, either.(more…)

Another interesting note from a different clip from Morning Joe. Gov. John Sununu says the democrats won’t even compete in New Hampshire of Mitt’s the nominee virtually guaranteeing NH’s electoral votes will go to the republican!

Can Mitt Romney be stopped for the Republican presidential nomination? There is time, his opponents say, although perhaps not much. To be precise, another 10 days to unleash a barrage against the front-runner and persuade conservatives to coalesce around an alternative who then could carry the South Carolina primary.

On Tuesday night, though, the confetti cannons were being fired at Romney’s victory party. He achieved what no non-incumbent Republican has ever done: win both the Iowa caucuses, dominated by evangelical Christians, and the New Hampshire primary, with its live-free-or-die independents.

After watching one rival after another soar and then crash, the slow and steady candidate prevailed in this year’s opening contests — and succeeded in the state where his presidential ambitions crumbled four years ago as Arizona Sen. John McCain surged from behind to defeat him.

If he also manages to win the Palmetto State on Jan. 21 — scoring what South Carolina GOP strategist Chip Felkel admiringly calls “the trifecta” — supporters and opponents say the former Massachusetts governor credibly could claim to be the presumptive Republican presidential nomination.

. . . .

The Romney camp is braced for what one top strategist called “a war” in South Carolina, a state known for its bruising primary politics. The TV ads and two debates are likely to be the harshest to date

A majority of voters in New Hampshire said Romney would be the strongest general-election candidate, and he was seen as broadly acceptable.

. . . .

Nationally, he is showing growing strength. In the daily Gallup Poll, he has ticked up to 30% for the first time; Gingrich is second at 18%. That puts history on Romney’s side: Since 1976, the candidate who led nationally after the New Hampshire primary has won the nomination.

What’s more, Romney is the only candidate whom a majority of both conservative and moderate Republicans see as an “acceptable” nominee, according to a Gallup Poll taken Thursday through Sunday.

Wow! While every day before it was fantastic, Monday really took the cake.

Nashua Chamber of Commerce

We started the day at the Chamber of Commerce meeting in Nashua. Perhaps I’m not as attuned to how words can be taken out of context (perhaps I’m just a fair person), but I wasn’t struck by the words the press and the GOP rivals pounced on after Mitt’s presentation. Perhaps it was because I was just having a ball. We walked in early and were seated at a table up front where Craig and Mary Romney were to be. But after I sat down, Governor John Sununu walked up and sat in the chair next to me! Here’s us before the event started:

He wisely and adeptly turned the conversation when I asked about more sensitive topics, like what life was like in the White House during Desert Storm, but he was fascinating to talk to. (more…)

Jack Welch is the former Chairman and CEO of General Electric. The 77 year old businessman gave what I think is the single best endorsement of Governor Romney that I have ever seen. This interview, given to Piers Morgan Monday night, is extraordinary on all counts. This clip is only 2:22 minutes in length, but look at the expressions, enthusiasm, and excitement! Rarely do you ever see a man pushing 80 this excited about anything. Literally every phrase and sentence ends with an exclamation point. The best part is at 1:50.

Following are just a few quotes by Mr. Welch from the interview. This video is extraordinary. Watch this short video clip ————————————>

Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric

“In this case, [Mitt Romney] really is perfect as a candidate for President of the United States, in these tough economic times!”

“As a presidential candidate, Mitt Romney is the best I have ever seen in the last 50 years!”

Gingrich has completely lost it I think. Seriously! Quoting incessantly from The New York Times during the debate and in his townhall meetings? Gingrich and Perry are so desperate they are morphing before our eyes into the perfect Obama lemmings. Shills both. Maybe Perry and Gingrich are planning to co-author a new book titled, THE AUDACITY OF CAPITALISM. What do you think? I heard they have reached out to Obama’s publisher for ideas. Brilliant! Perry took the lead with the idea but Gingrich thinks himself smarter and told Perry he was his junior.

In all seriousness, I honestly believe that Gingrich has cast the dye for himself in history this week. As I have said many times in this forum, Gingrich’s peak as a presidential candidate was December 13th, his lucky day. Had he stopped speaking at that moment, he might still be in the hunt. I believe that Gingrich is allowing his wife and others to temper his temper while he expresses anger in the form of vengeance by spending millions in petty immaturity. In days to come, he will probably tell us again that he has matured since he now has grandchildren. Whatever goodwill he developed as Speaker of the House will soon be completely diminished by his base emotions in pursuit of revenge. The irony is that his rhetoric and actions will likely help Governor Romney’s candidacy as Americans are offended by Gingrich’s frontal attack of capitalism. It would not surprise me at all if we witness a backlash in the voting.

Consider that yesterday alone, at least 18 major news sources reported capitalism under attack by Gingrich or Perry or both. Extraordinary no matter how you cut it (see Jayde’s article below for greater detail of these). All 18 are listed here as follows:

Club For Growth’s Chris Chocola: “Newt Gingrich’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital are disgusting. … Attacking Governor Romney for participating in free-market capitalism is just beyond the pale for any purported ‘Reagan Conservative.’ Newt Gingrich should stop his attacks on free markets and apologize to Governor Romney for them.” (Club For Growth, Press Release, 1/9/12)

Well this has become a bit of a travel log, but for those that are interested I’ll post a few comments and a number of photos of my experiences here on the ground for the New Hampshire primaries. I’ve been privileged to follow around members of the Romney family during this visit, so it’s been lots of fun for me. By way of warning, there’s not a lot of political commentary or information about Mitt in this post; but for people who are dying (like I would be) to know what’s going on here, I’m putting this up. (more…)

Move On is running attack ads on Mitt Romney about his record with Bain Capital. That’s to be expected although it is telling that the Left only fears Mitt. However, it’s a little strange who else is picking up on talking points from the far Left.

This is a montage Fox News put together of Gingrich, Huntsman, and Perry all attacking Romney over his work at Bain Capital.

Now here’s Mitt Romney’s “I like to fire people” quote in context:

“I want people to be able to own their own insurance if they wish to. And to buy it for themselves and perhaps keep it the rest of their life and to choose among different policies offered from companies across the nation. I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need I want to say ‘You know, I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.’ So, that’s one thing I would change.”

That soundbite sure sounds like something that most people can agree with and relate to when you see it in context. For as much as we love to criticize the main stream media for their unabashed slant, and rightly so, much of the Right still goes along with their deception as long as it supports their goals.

Apparently some of the Right wants someone with private sector experience, just not private sector experience that involves firings or making a profit. Since when do we hate capitalism? I thought that was the Left’s job. The primaries are dress rehearsal for the general election and it’s imperative that we vet all candidates extensively before the media really sinks their teeth in to our nominee, however, employing class warfarish, anti-capitalistic criticisms is nothing short of deplorable.

Can you feel the Mitt-Mentum building folks? It’s nearly palpable! Thus, it has been with great pleasure that many of us long-term Romney supporters have watched Mitt smash through the supposed “25% Ceiling” of support that his opponents and Democratic talking-heads have fabricated. We’ve heard many of his GOP opponents and those on the left stating that Romney is a “weak frontrunner” because he rarely polled above 25%. I’ve heard literally hundreds of comment on news programs that “over 75% of the GOP want someone different than Mitt Romney as their nominee.” A couple of problems with that argument:

1) No one else was higher than Romney (rare temporary “flavor of the month” candidates briefly popped into the 30s being the only exceptions) and so if 75% don’t want Romney, then 85% don’t want Gingrich, 90% don’t want Paul, 95% don’t want Perry, and 99% don’t want Huntsman.

*************Sick of hearing that Mitt’s involvement with RomneyCare will make him unable to criticize ObamaCare as the nominee? I’ve argued before on this site that the converse is actually true, that Romney would be the best nominee the GOP has to take it to Obama on the issue of Health Care.

Mitt just added a whole new level of credibility to this argument by earning the endorsement of Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General, and the lead AG for the 26 state lawsuit heading to the Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Something tells me that she would not be giving this endorsement without a full confidence that Mitt will do as he’s said, and grant immediate waivers to ObamaCare and then work to repeal the law itself through congressional action.

~Addendum from Ross
The Morning Joe crew makes the observation that Gov. Romney is the most disciplined candidate in the field below the fold. (more…)